Yoshon

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In classical Rabbinic Judaism, this requirement was considered restricted to the five classical grains of Judaism - wheat, barley, oats, spelt, and rye; any of these grains that are too young to pass the requirement (and products made from them) are referred to in Judaism as "Hadash", meaning "new [grain] ." Additionally, the Rabbinic interpretation requires grain to have taken root prior to the "omer" offering for it to become permitted; therefore, grains planted after Passover could only be consumed the following year.

Following the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 C.E., the "omer" offering was no longer offered. Since this time, the new grain has been deemed permissible following the date on which the offering was brought in ancient times.

The applicability of the "hadash" rules to grain grown outside the Land of Israel is a subject of debate among "halakhic" authorities. Rabbi Moses Isserles forbids it, while Rabbi Yoel Sirkis felt it is permissible. [Shulchan Aruch, Yorei De'ah 293, Laws of Hadash, with commentaries; Hassidic Jews, in particular, follow Sirkis' lenient opinion] Additionally, the manner in which various foods have historically been available has meant that Jewish populations would need to risk starvation to pursue stringent compliance with this aspect of Kashrut. These two factors led to a situation in which observation of the "yashan" regulation was relatively limited until very recently (at least in the Ashkenazic community).

In modern times, particularly in Developed Nations, food is much more readily available than it historically had been, and grain is in sufficient abundance that Orthodox Jews have become more interested in following "yashan" requirements. Modern packaging practices, which in some nations involve the stamping of production dates on every package, often allow individuals to determine whether food is definitely "yashan"; packaging organisations sometimes add Kashrut information to the packaging, and sometimes include in this information whether the product is known to be "yashan".

References

*Joseph Herman, "A Guide To Chodosh"

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.ou.org/kosher/daf/advanced/yoshen.htm An article about the Orthodox Union's policy regarding Yoshon]
* [http://www.star-k.org/kashrus/kk-yoshon-old_new.htm An article from the Star-K's about Yoshon]
* [http://www.star-k.org/kashrus/kk-yoshon-prepchodosh.htm Preparing for Chodosh]
* [http://www.koltorah.org/ravj/chadash.htm An article by Rabbi Howard Jachter about Yoshon]
* [http://www.crcweb.org/community/chicagoGuide.html#Pas_Yisroel_and_Yoshon_List Some info from the Chicago Rabbinical Council]
* [http://chaburas.org/chodosh.html The laws of chodosh—an in depth article]